Aeroplane



W. C; HIGLEY.

AEROPLANE.

APPLlCATION FILED APR.2I. 1919.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

' [NI/ENTER Wa UNITED. STATES WALTER C. HIGLEY, OF TOLEDO. OHIO.

AEROPLANE.

Application filed April 21. 1919.

To all whom. it may concern.

Be it known that I, lVAL'rnR C. Hionnr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Aeroplanes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, vand exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to construct the same, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to aeroplanes and it has for its object to produce a unique and safe method of maintaining equilibrium by equipping the aeroplane with additional planes to move in opposition to stabilized planes and by giving a flexible trailing edge to the planes.

Other objects relate to details of construction which will be more fully described in the accompanying drawings and specification.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front view of the aeroplane. Fig. 2 is a top view of the aeroplane; a section of the top right plane being removed, also a section of the engine chamber and aeroplane body; the top left plane being drawn in skeleton formation. Fig. 3 is a view of the under side of the pilots shifting device for operating and adjusting the ailerons. Fig. 41 is a drawing of the clutch locking attachment. Fig. 5 is an end view of planes and ailerons. Fig. 6 is a view of the shifting means, or bearings, for the bottom set of planes.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the planes 1 and 2 are secured and braced into the right and-left sides of the aeroplane body 3, respectively. To the rear edge of each plane. ailerons 4: and 5 are hinged respectively. The ailerons 1 and 5 are operated, respectively by means of the arms (3 and 7 extending inward toward the center of the aeroplane body; the inner ends of the said arms are bent downward and are connected by cables to the operative means.

In Fig. 3 the shifting device 8 is pivotedin the center at its rear edge to the cross beam 9,1 which is secured within the aeroplane body; while its forward edge is equipped with roller members 10 which are arranged to slide along the curved beam 11. The purpose of the shifting seat devlce 8 Specification of Letters Patent.

- pivotal means 22.

Patented Oct. 19. 1920.

Serial No. 291,452.

is a. predetermined and self-operative means by which the planes 1 and 2 are kept in a constant horizontal position. The ailerons can be operated-by any other method well known to the art, but it is prefe "able to use the type as illustrated in my drawingsinasmuch, as it is self determined, that is it will swing toward the lower side of the aeroplane, when it is tilted either diagonally or directly sidewise, operating the ailerons causing the planes 1 and 2 toassume its horizontal position; when this is accom plished the aviator can return the device 8 to its normal position by a slight movement of the body. I

The adjusting levers 12 and 13 are pivoted at their rear ends to the under surface of 8 by means of the bolts 14:; the forward ends of the levers 12 and 13 are provided With clutches 15, which lock into a ratchet strip 16 fastened to the under side and near the front edge of the device 8, therefore by releasing the clutches 15 the levers 12 and 13 are enabled to swing to the right and left independently of the shifting device 8; and also the said levers by being fastened to 8,

. are enabled to move sidewise in conjunction with 8.

Cables 17 and 18 are fastened from the levers 12 and 13, about suit-able pulleys, to the aileron operating arms 6 and 7 respectively. The purpose of the said levers 12 and.13 is to rectify any permanent misplacement of weight on either side of the aeroplane. Mioving the lever 12 toward the right the aileron et'w'ill swing downward proportionately until equilibrium is secured; and as the lever 12 can also be operated in conjunction with the shifting device 8; the aileron 1 is enabled to swing to a greater degree, thus retaining its necessary stabilizing function to combat adverse air pressure. The lever 13 operates the aileron 5 in a similar manner.

Lateral stability is further maintained by the use of additional plane or planes, the planes 19 and 20 are assembled to the aeroplane proper by means of bearings 21 and a The plane 19 is connected to the pivotal means by using supports 23; the plane 20 is connected to the aeroplane proper by means of the bearings 21 operating in curved members, as shown in Fig. 6.

Toward the ends and at the rear edge of the plane 19 ailerons 21 and 25 are hinged; from each aileron operating arms 26 extend downward"; rod members or links 27 connect each arm to a staple 28 located in each of the planes 1 and 2, see Figs. 1 and 5. It is preferable to construct the additional planes 19 and 20 with a larger area of supporting surface than the planes 1 and 2 contain, because of the diversity of the air currents the planes 19 and 20 will tilt more readily than the lanes 1 and 2, thus operating the ailerons 2 1 and 25 by means or the pulling or pushing efi'ect of the rod member 27.

The parallel planes 19 and 20 are held in their proper relation, one to another, by means of the strut 30 and by the curved tensional member 29. The member'29 is secured to the strut 30 and is entwined about the sparsof the planes 19 and 20, substantially as shown in Fig. 5. The pui pose of the said members 30 and 29 are to.furnish the leading edge of the planes with a rigid supporting means and the trailing ed ge with a tensional means, thus giving flexibility to the trailing edge which will greatlyaid the lateral stability of the aeroplane by relieving the planes of accumulated air.

The aeroplane proper is self-sustaining, and comprises all the featuresof a complete aeroplane. The nature of my invention 1s to maintain the aeroplane proper in an upright position and its planes in a horizontal position, by the use of previously described means; then by assembling other planes containing ailerons, by pivotal means or otherwise, to the aeroplane proper, the stability of the additional planes will be maintained by operating in opposition to the horizontal planes 1 and 2 of the aeroplane proper.

Another important feature of my invention is the two link members 27 connected from the operating arms 26 of the ailerons 24 and 25, respectively, to staples in the planes 1 and 2. These link members are connected at an angle, substantially as shown in Fig. 5; they are rigid members, but

they are pivotally held at both top and bottom so as to move freely according to the tilt of the planes. Lessening the distance between the right end of the plane 19 and the plane 1 will cause the link member '27 to crowd against the operating arm 26. of the aileron 24;, operating the aileron 24 .downward; and in the meantime, the left end of the plane 19 will be farther away from the plane 2, thus causing the other link member to pull on the operating arm of the aileron 25 causing it to swing upward.

I claim: 1. In an aeroplane, the combination of a shifting seat device pivoted in the center toward its rear edge and its forward edge free to shift sidewise by means of roller members engaging a curved beam, and two adjusting levers pivoted at their rear ends to the shifting seat device allowing their front ends to be releasable sidewise by means of clutch locking devices engaging a ratchet strip.

2. In an aeroplane, the combination of a shifting seat device pivoted in the center toward its rear edge and its forwardedge free to shift sidewise by means of roller members engaging a curved beam, and two adjusting levers pivoted at their rear ends to the shifting seat device allowing their front ends to be releasable sidewise by means of clutch locking devices engaging a ratchet strip; and right and left planes containing ailerons hinged to their rear edges by means of extended operating arms bent at right angles at their inner ends forming a lever means by which they are operated in connection with the afore-mentioned adjusting levers and shifting seat device.

3. In an aeroplane, the combination of two supporting planes placed one'above the other, the top plane containing ailerons with aileron operating arms extending down ward and forward; the lower plane containing means for maintaining stability, and also staple members to which link members are joined from each of the aileron operating arms; the top plane being pivoted in the center so as to create a fluctuating distance between the ends of the top plane and the stabilized lower plane.

1. In an aeroplane, the combination of two supporting planes placed one above the other, the top plane containing ailerons with aileron operating a ms extending downward and forward; the lower plane containing ailerons operated by means of releasable adjusting levers, in combination with a shiftable seat device pivoted at its rear end and its forward end free to shift sidewise, maintaining the lower plane in a horizontal position; the top plane being pivoted in the center to allow a fluctuating distance between the top plane and the stabilized lower plane, causing the ailerons of the top plane to swing up or down in accordance with the pushing or pulling effect upon their operating arms in connection with link members joined to staple members secured to the stabilized lower plane.

5. In an aeroplane, an aeroplane proper consisting of a body, fuselage, tail members, landing arrangements, planes and ailerons, engines, propellers, and means for guiding and stabilizing in combination with a biplane arrangement of supporting planes containing flexible trailing edges; the top plane being pivoted in the center to the top of the aeroplane body by means of hangers suspended from the spars of the top plane; the bottom plane being rotatable sidewise by means of curved bearing members engaging roller members assembled to the bottom of the aeroplane body; the top plane being further equipped with ailerons containing aileron operating arms connected by link members to staple members secured to the planes of the aeroplane proper.

6. In an aeroplane, an aeroplane proper comprising a complete aeroplane with means for guiding and stabilizing, in combination with a bi-plane arrangement of planes rigidly held at their forward edges by means of straight struts'and flexibly held at their trailing edges by means of flexible members; the bi-plane arrangement of planes being pivoted and rotatable sidewise by means of pivot members secured to the top of the aeroplane body assembled to hangers sus:

pended from the center of the top plane, and roller bearing members secured to the bottom of the aeroplane body operating within curved members secured to the middle of the bottom plane; the aeroplane proper curing its stability by means of ailerons with extended operating arms hinged to the rear edges of its supporting planes, in connection with adjusting levers combined to a shifting seat device pivoted at its rear edge allowing its forward edge to shift sidewise; the bi-.,

plane arrangement of planes securing its stability by means of ailerons with operating arms, in connection with link members universally hinged to staple members secured to the planes of the aeroplane proper.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

\VALTER C. HIGLEY. 

